Rebirth
by animeshounen
Summary: It has been thirty years since the fall of Sephiroth. Thirty years too long...
1. Default Chapter

Rebirth

By animeshounen

I felt the undying loneliness of the abyss. Falling, falling, the heat was unbearable. _What is this? Why am I here? No. I remember._ I remember now. The pain, the suffering. Yes. Cloud. Cloud. Cloud! Curse him! He's destroyed me. This is why I'm falling. Cloud. So many questions. So little answers. 

__

"I cannot afford to die!"

~ chapter 1~

I am still falling. I cannot see my own hand in front of my face. I thought I saw a light, but that cannot be. No, wait, that is a light. It's getting bigger and bigger by the second! The brilliant bright light engulfed me. Now, there was nothing but white. Now, I find that ironic because I spent my entire life denying the light. But my life was over now. I find it hard to believe that I have a sense of self after death. Maybe I'm not as dead as I think I am…

The white light was unbearably bright. I could see my ragged clothes and bloodied body. Yet I feel no cold, nor pain. Although I did feel that I was not the only one in this light. That feeling, that tingling of your spine, that was the only feeling.

During this whole time, I had not yet attempted to move. I realized I could, but it was not necessary. Suddenly, I stopped falling. Now I knew that I could not be alone.

_"Hello, Sephiroth."_

"Who is this?"

_"I am not anyone you would know, or come to know."_

"Where am I?"

_"What, in relation to your world? You are not in your world anymore."_

"Am I dead?"

He laughed. Well, I'm not sure even until now if this being was a man.

_"Dead? I would certainly think not. More like, dimensionally displaced to give it a rough explanation."_

I was disgusted by the lightness of his voice. He couldn't be serious, how am I not dead? I most certainly did not survive. That old fool is playing mind games.

"_Old fool, I think not, son. Not that you are my son, it is a figure of speech. Not that you would know humor if it kicked you in the arse. Another figure of speech."_

"Who do you think you are, old man? I could kill you in an instant!"

I realized that this man could read my thoughts. He must know everything about me, I thought. So many thoughts running through my head. Maybe I should have died, to save myself the agony of wondering what would happen if I did. 

"_You really want to die that much? I can arrange that if that's what you want. Unless you would like to hear my offer first."_

"…Offer…?"

_"Yes. An offer. You must know by now that you devoted your life to evil, unless you call it something else. Anyway, I'm offering to bring you back to your world if you never turn over to evil again."_

"I realize now, old man, that evil will never triumph over good. I accept your offer unless there is more to it."

_"There is more, my dear Sepphy. I shall give you powers beyond imagination as long as you promise me one thing."_

"Yes, old man?"

_"You must never take the soul of the living, as good or evil as they may be."_

Surely he must be joking, ultimate power does not come without bloodshed!

_"I am not joking, son. And by the way, stop calling me Shirley, that's not my name. So, do you take it, or leave it?"_

I realized that this decision could affect the rest of my life. I also realized that I really don't have a life. I will do it.

_"Ah, yes. Wise decision, Sephiroth. Well, sit back and enjoy the ride. Oh, by the way, when you get into your world again, you might have to change your name to avoid suspicion. I'm thinking something along the lines of a nice magical name, something with three letters in it. Like Xen, well that's three letters, but do what you can."_

Xen…a whole new identity. A whole new power. Too many changes, too little time…

"_Dear God, do you ever stop thinking?"_

~chapter 2~

Aeris woke up in a cold sweat. She had been having this dream for a few days now. She didn't know why she was waking up, because she didn't remember the dream. All she remembered was a man dressed in white and her father. I probably need something that'll make me sleep, she thought. Of course, she could have put herself to sleep if she learned the sleep spell she had been practicing. Who was that man in white? Why is he in my dreams? She remembered that he had a name. Yes, what was that name? Sephri…Sepher….Seifer…Sephrihoth?

~

"Forward men!"

"Yes sir!"

The rumbling of Chocobo feet filled the air. At the back, was Clif, King of the Riders of the Plains. They had been riding for a few days now, they had been trying to reach their kingdom after a great battle in the west. One of the riders from the front turned around and headed towards him. Damn, there must be something wrong. "Umm, sir, I think that you may want to see this, Sir."

He handed me the binoculars and he reluctantly took them. "What the…" 

About a mile up, there was a man dressed in a white summoners gown just standing there. I shouted out directions in the language of the Riders. _"Ee droydius interius im nooj plethr!" _Basically translated, the king and his guards will go ahead. Clif and his most trusted group of about 15 people rode ahead while the other 120 stayed behind. 

__

Clif now could see the man without the binoculars. He hadn't moved from his spot. How could he have gotten here, it is nothing but desert! The beasts and the lack of food would kill you! Yet he was there. Maybe he was a mirage. Wait, no, the other man saw it too. We stopped right in front of him. He still hadn't moved. One of the leading officers rode up to him. "You! State your name!"

__

"Xen_."_

"Why are you here?"

"I came here."

"Are you carrying any weapons?"

"Yes."

"Do you plan to use them on us?"

"Do you want me to?"

The officer realized that he wasn't going anywhere with this man. He rode off. Clif found something very strange about this man. He seemed very familiar. Xen spoke again. "Who are you?" He was talking to Clif. "I am Clif of the Riders of the Plains."

"State your real name."

My real name? I've spent too much time trying to forget it. He must know me. Who is he?

"What is your real name?"

"Clif."

"Fine. If you do not tell me I will have to kill you."

Kill me? He couldn't. I am much stronger than him. After all, I was the one who destroyed Sephiroth. He couldn't kill me.

"You cannot kill me, Wanderer."

"You are quite right. I cannot."

What is with this guy? There's something so familiar about him, but I can't find it. Maybe if he took off his hood…

"Remove your hood"

He took off his hood, and long purple hair came out of it. Purple hair! Why couldn't I remember him? That hair…surely I could remember someone with that hair color. Unless…no. That's impossible, I killed him 30 years ago!

"S…Se…Sephiroth?"

"Hello. Cloud Strife."

~chapter 3~

Cloud Strife. The cause of all my suffering. Standing here in front of me. How I wish I could killed him. Tasted the blood of him. So close…so close…

"Its been a while, hasn't it, Cloud. Since you killed me. Well, looks like I'm as dead as you think I am." Cloud twitched. I could smell the fear in him. I knew he was staring at a ghost. A ghost of the past. I hope he is scared and he should be. He couldn't even speak.

"Lets go, men, we don't want to waste any more time." Yes. Leave. He is weaker than he was 30 years ago. Not in the aspect of strength, though. He was mentally weaker. Obviously he is denying his past. I laughed. I haven't laughed like that in a long time. I didn't want to say anything to Cloud, I wanted to baste in my own victory. Sephiroth is reborn. The old Sephiroth is gone to make way for the new. There would be nothing that could stop me now. Not even Cloud Strife.

"_I am invincible!"_

~

"And then it ended." Aeris said in a trembling voice. She had never told her dreams to anybody except now. Probably because she couldn't remember them as vividly as she did now.

"That's a very interesting story, Aeris." Cid said. Cid. He was one of Aeris's best friends. It seemed to her that Cid was the only one she could open up to. Even though he was older than her father. He was more of a father figure to her than her own father, Clif Strife. "Do you know who Sephiroth was, Aeris?" No. She didn't. She wasn't even sure if her father's real name was Clif.

"Are you telling me that Sephiroth is a real person, Cid?"

"Yes. He was a person all right. A very evil person at that. Of course, he wasn't always evil. He was partnered up with your dad for a while when he was in SOLIDER. He betrayed Cloud and destroyed his hometown, Old Nibelhelm. Your father eventually killed him."

"So, it was just a dream, he's not really reborn, is he?"

"The world works in strange ways, Aeris, you can't be too sure about anything these days. Say, do you know why your father named you Aeris?"

She didn't know that either. It seems that she doesn't know a lot of things about her father's past, even though she was turning 18 in a few weeks.

"It looks like I haven't been informed of a lot of things, Cid."

"Your father met a woman named Aeris 30 years ago. At the time, she was a flower merchant in Midgar. She joined Cloud in his attempts to destroy the Shinra Corporation. She was in a love triangle with your father, and a woman named Tifa. Unfortunately, Aeris was killed by Sephiroth, and Cloud vowed revenge."

Wow. There is so much I don't know about my father. Or my mother, for that matter.

"What about my mother? Who was she?"

"Tifa."

This is frustrating. I don't know my mother's name. I'll ask father when he comes back I suppose. Aeris fixed her long brown hair into a ponytail. The hair falling on her head was bothering her.

"You know, Aeris, I can see why your father named you that. You are the spitting image of her."

"You knew Aeris?"

"Of course I did. I fought alongside Cloud faithfully until he started denying his own past. That's why he changed his name. The name Cloud brought him too much pain and sorrow."

When was my father going to tell me this? Why was Cid the one that was telling me all this? She got up from the bed she was sitting on. 

"I'm going to wait for my father's return, Cid. Thank you for listening to me."

"Anytime, kid."

She walked down the empty hallway to the front door of the house. She looked down and could see the whole city of New Nibelhelm. She wondered why her father became a member of SOLIDER. She wondered why he now commanded the riders. Still too many questions.

~chapter 4~

It can't be. Sephiroth is not back. It is impossible. Clif could see his town of New Nibelhelm in the distance. The Chocobos kicked up a lot of dust, he thought. And the frequent craps that they have aren't great either. Why did Sephiroth identify himself as Xen? This didn't make any sense at all.

The Riders stabled the Chocobos and Clif headed for his house. When he got there, his daughter, Aeris, was sitting in front of the house. Is there something wrong? The look on her face was fear. I must look like that too. "Hello, Aeris, how are you?" I tried to be as happy as I could, but she wasn't buying it.

"Hello, daddy…"

There is something wrong. I could sense it in her voice.

"Dad, did you meet anyone on the way here?"

She couldn't mean…

"Why yes, actually I did."

"Why didn't you give him your real name?"

She knows. But how? "Aeris, how do you know?"

"I've been having these dreams about a man named Sephiroth. You know him. You destroyed him."

"Who told you this?"

"Cid."

That figures. She can get anything out of that old man. I guess she had to know sometime.

"Why didn't you tell me about Aeris and Tifa?"

She was getting angry at me. I don't blame her. I would have been mad at me too. "How much do you know about my past?"

"More than enough. So, how do you plan on stopping Sephiroth, dad?"

That was a good question. Sephiroth, or Xen, must be destroyed. Clif clutched his necklace hard. He must be after this, he thought. Inside this necklace was the only piece of black materia left. He thought of what would happen if it ever got in the hands of Sephiroth again. He trembled at the thought.

"Father, are you all right?"

"Yes, I'll be fine. Come inside, Aeris, it's getting cold." 

The warmth of the fire was comforting after many days of travel. Cid was talking to Aeris again. It seems all she can talk to is Cid now. She must not have known how he was back when I knew him. He smiled. Always ranting and raving, swearing, fighting. He has settled down quite a bit since then. So have I, I suppose. He saw his reflection in a mirror across the room. His hair was still the same as ever. If there was one thing he liked about himself, it was his hair. He was growing stubble, which he found a nuisance. The light of the fire reflected on something near him. He turned toward it and saw his sword hanging on the wall. I didn't put that up there, it must have been Cid. He examined it for a while. He couldn't believe that he used to fight with something so enormous. 

He looked under his sword. At that exact moment, he could have sworn his heart skipped a beat. Right under it, lay Sephiroth's Masamune Blade. This couldn't be a coincidence, I don't ever recall having that. And I would remember having something like that, considering that it was over seven feet long and red. Wait, it wasn't red. That was the fire reflection dripping…dripping? Was that…

Clif stood up and walked over to the sword. He touched the long, slender blade. It was wet. Wet with blood. It was blood pouring from the sword. Blood all over the walls. Blood everywhere. Clif passed out.

~chapter 5~

Old Nibelhelm. My home. Sephiroth walked toward the Shinra Mansion, which he spent much time in his past life. He groaned. It had been turned into a tourist attraction. Maybe they haven't discovered the secret basement. He entered the mansion and to his surprise, found that the library was still intact. Excellent. It was just how he remembered it. _Well, well, well, what do we have here? _That voice! The old man! But this time he is in my head. Wonderful. _Um, you are gonna have to change your name again. They already know who you are. _Good. I hated the name Xen anyway. A name came into his head. Vincent. Yes, I remember him. _Hmm, Vincent is okay I guess._ I don't even see why it is necessary to change my name. _So no one knows who you are. Anyway, "Vincent", I have another offer for you. I will let you kill again._ Is he joking? Is he even real? Maybe I'm imagining this. _Heavens, no. I am most certainly not imaginary. You can kill again but only if you become the "good guy". _Ugh…a catch. I suppose I could try it. _Well I hope you like wearing white. Cause you are gonna have to. Goodbye, Vincent. _Wait! Before you go, what is your name? Silence. Damn. He got away. 

It just occurred to him that since he was resurrected, he had become more soft. Not coldhearted like he used to be. This might take some getting used to.

~

I must leave here. I must get out. I ran quickly out of the chamber and was quickly met by guards at the gate. "Stay close, Aeris, I don't want to lose you."

One of the guards pulled out katanas. They glistened in the moonlight from the hole in the ceiling. He came at me and struck. Unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough for my blade. He was dead before he even felt the sword on his body. One guard with an eye patch had a sword, too. He started running toward the alarm. That wasn't going to happen. I pointed my hand in his direction, palm facing him. Graviga was a particularly hard spell. I'm too strong for it to bother me. The spell lifted him off of the ground. My hand closed and his body convulsed and ripped into pieces. The mere sight of that made the remaining guards run away in fear. I smiled. "Cowards."

"Umm, Vincent, you did tear that guy into pieces. If I was them, I would run, too."

Maybe she was right. "But if you were them, then they would be you, and I'd rip you into pieces." Aeris obviously didn't understand my logic, or just didn't care.

I think instead of going outside, we were in fact, going farther in. We approached an ominous looking door. It looked out of place for where we were.

"Should we go in there, Vincent?"

"Yes, lets go," I said reluctantly. "We have nothing left to lose."

The door was very heavy, like it was made to protect something. This obviously worried Aeris by the look on her face. Maybe she was worried because I probably look scared, too. We entered the room very slowly. By the echo of our footsteps it seemed like an extremely large place. I drew my sword, just in case. But it didn't matter. As soon as I saw what was in that room, I dropped it.

~

It is impossible. 

Aeris ran down the hallway to her father's room. The door was still open, which was unlike him, he always liked privacy. She ran into the room but he was not sleeping. He was on the floor, passed out. "Oh, God." What happened? He was holding something to his neck, and there was blood on his hands. She removed his cold hands from what he was holding and saw that it was his necklace. The one with the black stone in it. Come on, he has to wake up, I have to tell him about my dream. What happened here? Every time questions are answered, more came up. Too many…


	2. Rebirth part 2

~Chapter 6~

Vincent woke up suddenly. That was a bizarre dream. What did I see in that room. More importantly, who was that girl? Her name was Aeris, but I did not recognize her. He looked at the clock. 4:30? I won't sleep again, anyway. He got out of the makeshift bed he put in the corner of the library and put on his robe. He felt weird feeling when he put it on, like he was refreshed. He didn't seem to care about it, it probably isn't anything.

It was obviously still dark when he got outside and a little cold. He hoped no one saw him come out of the mansion and risk being discovered as Sephiroth. But that wasn't his name anymore. And Cloud, his name was Clif now. Everything was changing too quickly, or maybe he was just too slow. It seemed over 30 years have passed since my death. Too long. Maybe everyone will forget about me like they did before 30 years ago, when I disappeared for many years. It was like I was living through it again, but now I can't be evil. 

Without realizing it, he had walked far away from the mansion. I must be thinking too hard. I didn't even know where I was going. Might as well just see where my feet take me.

~

Where am I? Clif sat up and looked around. This place looked familiar. It is Cid's house. Why am I here? He realized his hand was on his necklace again, he quickly took it off. All I remember was being in my room and that was it. Who brought me here? 

Aeris walked into the room. "Father! You are awake!" Clif stood up and rubbed his head. His head pounded. 

"H…hello Aeris. What am I doing here?"

"You mean you don't remember? I found you passed out and covered in blood. But it wasn't your blood, it was somebody else's."

I don't remember any of this. Why not? 

Cid entered the room. He looked out of breath.

"Hi…Cloud…had…me…worried…for…a moment there." He got his hands off his knees. "Excuse my lack of wind, I ran here. I had a bit of a run in with the mistress. She was yelling at me about not listening to her or something. I dunno what she said, really, I wasn't paying attention." He gave me one of those big smiles he has when he jokes around. I tried forcing a smile, but my head hurt too much. Aeris giggled. "If you need anything," Cid said, "Just holler." He turned on one heel and jogged out of the room.

Aeris turned to me and looked at me. She looked scared. "Dad, I had a dream last night. I think Sephiroth was in it again. But he was helping me. We came to this door and we pulled it open. He saw something and dropped his sword. I looked too, but as soon as I saw it, I woke up."

"What did you see?"

"It was a woman. Well, it had woman like features. It looked like a robot. It was in a big holding cell and hooked up to all these wires. There was a little graving on the cell that I think said Jene."

Again, questions come flooding in. Jene, it couldn't possibly be…

"Did it say, Jenova?"

"Yup. That was it. Why? Is she bad?"

"Aeris, Jenova was Sephiroth's mother. She is quite bad."

"But that is whats bothering me. When I saw her, I felt warm inside. Like she was trying to help me. But that can't happen, if she is evil."

This is strange. Why is Aeris starting to have dreams about Sephiroth? Is he trying to take over her body or something? Perhaps trying to manipulate her to kill me.

"Dad," Aeris interrupted, "You are holding your necklace again."

My hand came off of it. Why was I not realizing that I was holding it? Is the black materia becoming addictive?

"What is that pretty black stone in your necklace, anyway?"

The materia shimmered in the light. "This is the last remnant of materia. It was said to have been destroyed, but I still kept one piece. This is black materia. This was powerful enough to destroy the earth. I think it is just a stone now."

"You have something around your neck that can destroy the earth? Is that because you feel insecure about yourself and get something very powerful to make up for it? Or do you like knowing that you could destroy the earth?"

I was hurt by that comment. But it didn't bother me. "The materia is impotent now. It can't harm us."

"Well then, take it off so you don't keep playin with it."

My hand went for the clasp, but I put my hands down. I couldn't bring myself to take it off. I thought maybe it was that I was tired, but my brain was telling me not to take it off.

"Here, let me do it." She reached over and put her hands on the clasp. Right then, something came over me and I saw red.

"DoN't ToUcH iT!" I slung her off me and she landed on the floor. I had no idea of what I just did. She looked at me and her eyes welled up into tears. "Oh my god, Aeris, I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me!"

"Shut up! Just shut up!" She ran out of the room and slammed the door behind her.

"Aeris? Damn it!" I punched the wall as hard as I could. I then remembered my headache and I fell to the ground. "What the hell is wrong with me! Damn it!" I felt hot tears of anger running down my face. Not anger at anyone, angry at myself.

Cid burst in through the door. "Shit, what the hell happened in here? You are certainly causing quite an uproar. Aeris ran out of here faster than I could catch up to her."

"I don't…" I was so angry I could barely speak "I don't want to talk. Please leave." Cid could see my fear and anger.

"All right. I understand. You can go home anytime you want." He walked slowly out of the room.

I got up, head throbbing like mad. I grabbed the materia and pressed it against my head. It was eerily cool. My headache went away. That was odd. He looked at the stone on his necklace for a while. He could have sworn that he saw it flicker.

~Chapter 7~

Aeris ran, tears streaming down her face. She jumped on top of Cid's chocobo and rode away. She didn't care where she was going, as long as it was away from her father.

She rode for about 45 minutes when she came to a forest she didn't recognize. All of the trees were leafless, so it wasn't a very concealing place. She knew that forests were full of ferocious beasts but she went against her better judgment. The chocobo had a sword and sheath on it's side, anyway, so she was protected.

When she was well into the forest, she saw something skitter into a bush. She drew the short bladed sword and hopped off the bird. "Stay here," she whispered to the chocobo, even though she knew they can't speak. She heard little whimpers coming from the bush. Is that a human? She walked quietly up to the bush, and pulled it away. It was a small creature that reminded her of a penguin, wearing a red robe and big hat. It was definitely not a human.

"Aahh!" The creature screamed. "D-d-don't hurt me! We don't know the whereabouts of the girl!" It opened it's eyes. "Oh, sorry. Wrong person. Well, better late than never for introductions! Hello! My name is Piashingubagu but I call myself Pi! What is your name?"

This thing talked very fast for such a small body. "Aeris. Who did you think I was, Pi?"

"The wanderer. He has been walking through the forest for a while now, looking for someone. He wears a big, white robe with purple hair. Hey! Maybe he's looking for you!"

Sephiroth? Looking for me? I must get out of this forest. Who knows what he could do to me if he finds me. "Do you think you could lead me out of here? Just not the way I came, I don't want to go back." I don't think I ever will see my home again, thanks to Clif. 

"Get you out? Yes, I suppose I could do that. But I hope you don't plan on using your chocobo."

"Why wouldn't I…" I stopped in mid-sentence. The chocobo's blood was all over the surrounding trees. I saw something else that made my heart skip a beat. Standing about five yards away from the chocobo, was a man in a white robe cleaning his tarnished sword. I couldn't move. It was Sephiroth without a doubt. He looked up at me. I couldn't see his eyes behind his long, purple hair. He couldn't have been much older than me, even though he should be well over one hundred. He was also very tall, his sword was as long as he was. He spoke to me in a calm soothing voice.

"You won't need a way out, Aeris." The way he said it he didn't seem menacing at all. He sounded rather peaceful. "Come with me."

I followed him. I don't know why I would ever do something like this, but there was something about him. Like I've known him for a long time. I didn't even look back at Pi. I'm sure he ran off in fear. "Where are you taking me, Sephiroth?"

He continued walking and turned his head. "That isn't my name anymore. It is Vincent. Sephiroth is too evil a name."

This isn't the Sephiroth, (or Vincent, rather), that I've heard so much about. 

"I've been having dreams about you, Aeris. Strange dreams. And I'm pretty sure you have, too."

He has been having dreams, too? These dreams must be a connection of some sort. "Yes, I have been having dreams about you. But how did you know I would be here?"

"I didn't. I was coming to New Nibelhelm to talk to you. Apparently, we met halfway. It works out better for me, I guess. I know all about you, Aeris."

"Then I guess you might remember that my dad was the one that destroyed you." I didn't know why I even bothered to try and scare him. Or intimidate him. It wasn't going to work.

He smiled. "Yes, but he didn't do a very good job of that, did he? How is old Cloud doing, anyway? I ran into him the other day on his way back home. He's past his prime, now."

I flinched. So my dream was real after all. Vincent seems very laid back about this whole thing. "So, what did you want to tell me, Vincent?"

"Ah, yes. I need your help. This time around, I'm the good guy. There has been traces of evil coming from somewhere. I'm not sure where, but it is somewhere in this part of the earth. I need you to help me destroy it."

"Why me?"

"That is what I was getting to. You may not know this, but you have small amounts of materia running through your blood. Only a few people, me included, have this kind of blood. This gives us great powers beyond our imagination. I am going to have to teach you to use them. This is the only way to save the earth from destruction."

This sounds a bit too corny for me. Unlock powers. Save earth. Blah, blah, blah. Suddenly, a thought shot through her head. "Vincent, I think I might know where this evil is coming from."

"Hmm? Where?"

"My father's necklace, the black materia."


End file.
